This Hunger You Feed
by Jessica Pendragon
Summary: A midnight rendezvous in the kitchens.


Keela pounds the dough with merciless fists. The sound echoes through the empty kitchen, several thrusts punctuated with a little growl from her throat. She is annoyed with the slow pace of Orlais as they wait for word from the Empress about the grand ball. The events of Adamant are still a wound not healed and every time she thinks of it, it stretches and breaks open all anew.

And then there is the elf who has captured her attention but remains out of grasp. She thought all the coy suggestions, longing glances, and lingering touches were leading them somewhere, but she has waited and waited until the ache growing inside has become unbearable. She knows the loss of his friend cut deep, but instead of seeking her comfort he has pulled away even farther.

So she kneads bread between her fingers instead of his skin, tastes flour on her mouth instead of his lips, sweats beneath the heat of the oven instead of his body. Keela lets out a frustrated sigh and slams the dough into the counter with a loud smack.

"I must admit I have not witnessed this particular technique before."

She jumps at the sound of his voice and finds Solas standing just within the doorway. It is a testament to her current state that he might sneak up on her, a feat only a few can ever manage. "Solas! What are you doing awake?"

"I could ask you the same, Inquisitor." He shuts the door and glides over, hands tucked behind his back, and Keela's fists squeeze into the batter at the torturous way he moves.

"Just…" _Just dreaming of you beneath me, inside me, that damned calmness ripped off your face as you scream my name. "_ Just couldn't sleep. Cooking, baking, takes my mind off things."

He hums. "I see. I am suffering from a similar issue."

She can't help a huff of laughter from escaping. "I very much doubt that."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You-" She turns to him, ready to unleash her true feelings on the matter, but stops herself. She cannot keep forcing his hand, demanding he leap when he would rather remain apart. It is not fair to either of them any longer. She watches a knowing concern cross the steady sea of his eyes and guesses her own expression must flare with the turmoil raging within.

"It's nothing. I…" She pulls back, glances down, away, anywhere but where he stands. This constant tug of war is killing her. A part of her wants to escape out into the courtyard and her feet move towards the outer door without thinking.

He startles her a second time as his hand wraps around her wrist and holds her in place. She gasps at the touch, at the storm now brewing bold and dangerous in his eyes. Keela doesn't hesitate to dive in and presses close, clutching to this current of hope with all her might.

There is a moment where she sees doubt cut through the sudden urge and shakes her head, fingers digging deeper into his tunic. " _Yes."_

She holds her breath, heart thudding too hard, as he leans in. Lips brush against one another, soft, testing, trying to understand this swarming thing between them. Keela wants to pounce at the simple touch but remains still, a hunter waiting for her prey to move in closer.

She waits for the resolve to drown beneath the desire, waits for his hands to wrap around her and hold tight, waits until his eyes finally shut in wondrous surrender. Her arms shoot around his neck to pull him against her and they struggle with the balance of their want and need until he pushes her back against the table. A moan slips through her mouth to feel him all down the length of her, to feel the heat and ache shift within.

His lips are soft, his hands are hard as they bury under the bottom of her tunic and dig into flesh. Now that he has her there is no hesitation, no patience. There is only a hungry need for the taste of her lips, the shape of her sighs, and the way his touch consumes is like he has craved this for centuries.

Fingers follow the lines of her ribs, a daring thumb slipping beneath her breast band to run atop pebbled flesh, and Keela throws her head back with a groan. His attention leaves her gasping for air as his lips move across her cheek, down the lane of her neck to kiss and suck, to make her shiver as he bites down on her shoulder.

She wants more, needs more, is starving for the feeling of his skin on hers. She doesn't care that they could be interrupted at any moment. She has waited enough. Keela reaches for the lacing over his breeches but Solas is quick to grab her wrist again.

He jerks away and takes his perfect touch with him. They both gaze at one another with eyes grown dark, breaths shallow, bodies straining forward. Keela pulls on her hand to only have his grip tighten.

"No. Not yet."

"Solas, you can't-"

A hand twists in her hair, tugging sharp. "Be quiet."

She swallows her words, quivering and cowed by the deep rumble of his voice. She wants to feel it tremble down her spine, across her stomach, captured between her thighs. His mouth reclaims hers with heavy, drawn out kisses that melt her into the table. The hand holding hers finally releases and her heart skips as she feels him tug at the ties of her leggings.

"Is this what you want?"

" _Yes."_ She wants it all, but she will take whatever he is willing to give.Keela is more than happy to help his efforts however, shifting her hips and hooking her fingers beneath the edges to pull the fabric down as it loosens.

He slips inside, sliding into her warmth, circling pulsing flesh. They both groan as a finger enters her, thrusts in deep and slow before he adds another. Hands roam over his back, arms, chest, unable to hold onto anything as he takes her further and further away from the rest of the world. She's lost to the quickening rhythm of his hand, the maddening demands of his lips devouring her cries.

Hips press into his touch as his thumb rubs relentless pleasure out of her, as his other hand firmly rolls a nipple between calloused fingers. She feels overwhelmed by his skilled touch even when she lusts for more of it. His name shudders through her as veins catch fire and muscles tighten until it seems like she will break part under the tension. When he whispers something in Elvhen against her collar, voice vibrating through her bones, she does shatter, body igniting in a powerful rush of release that steals away all thought.

It feels like an age before she returns to herself enough to lift her head from his shoulder. He's managed to lace her up and return her shirt to something resembling modesty without her notice and she smirks at his pragmatism even now. The tempest trapped in his gaze has abated, but now that's she's seen the caged thing inside released, there is no denying how it lurks around the edges still.

"I can't believe…you- _Solas_ …" she shakes her head, letting a sigh speak when her tongue is too tangled to try. It is rare for her not to be able to find the words, but everything feels changed. They are changed and she shivers in anticipation for the things to come.

Arms loop around his shoulders and coax him closer again. Her kisses are gentle with a simmering heat and she knows there will always be this flame between them now no matter how many times they meet one another. She can feel it growing again, this hunger you feed so it never fades.

"Have I satisfied your curiosity?" he asks and she can taste the smugness of it.

Keela laughs and brushes flour from his cheek. "You've only made me hungry for more."


End file.
